The Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) expects that by July this year, the first 1 000 learners will have completed the Monyetla work readiness inception programme, aimed at boosting the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

A total of 840 learners started the programme, and the first groups were expected to complete the training by March, it said. The project is part of the BPO sector support programme and is funded by the Department of Labour’s national skills fund, as well as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The programme takes unemployed matriculants and graduates through a process of acquiring work readiness skills, which involves training learners for the workplace and equipping them with life skills.

Speaking at the release of Jipsa’s report for 2007, in Pretoria, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka noted that the BPO sector, which had been a priority for Jipsa’s first phase, did not require as much involvement from Jipsa as business and government had taken the initiative and run with it.

A consortium of 18 recruiters, employers and training providers is implementing the Monyetla programme, which is intended to shape the larger investment in the sector’s entry-level talent pool. The training is being conducted in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, and the Eastern Cape.

The cost was previously estimated to be in the region of R15 000 a

learner. The Umsobomvu Youth Fund has also made a grant available to enable

another 250 unemployed young people to join the Monyetla programme, and they will start training this month. Also as a part of the BPO sector support programme, the Business Trust and the DTI are implementing a joint talent

development project. The project seeks to pilot an approach designed to enable South Africa to train 6 000 entry-level contact centre agents each year for five years in order to develop an internationally comparable talent pool.